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Republic Of Liga
__INHOUD_DWINGEN__ Liga (ENG/''Lica'', NL/''Liga'', FRA/''Liqa''), is officially the Autonomous Island of Liga, or the Republic of Liga, or République du Liga. The island is composed of two volcanic islands situated in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,760 km (1,093 mi) west of continental Europe, about 640 km (397 mi) northwest of Madeira, and about 2,825 km (1,755 mi) southeast of Newfoundland. Its main industries are wine making, fishing, tourism and international banking, which became the major service activity of the island. In addition to this, the government of Liga employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in many aspects of the banking service and additional sectors. There are two Ligirian islands. These are Liga and Liga Minoras, and the Echouer reef to the south. They extend for more than 80 km (49 mi) and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. The main island capital, Liga, defines an exclusive economic zone of 12 km2 (7 sq mi). The two islands have volcanic origins, although both have had no recorded activity since the islands were settled. Mount Cibbeling, on the island of Liga, is the highest point, at 2,351 m (7,713 ft). Because this once uninhabited and remote island was settled sporadically over a span of three centuries, its culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions vary considerably. |} 1 History 1.1 Discovery The first discovery of the island of Liga was, remarkably, very late in 1679 by a Dutch adventurer called captain Hendrick Rooibos, or Bois de Rouge. On the 22th of april 1679 Rooibos stepped on the shores, around what is now called the city of Mohodver, when he, as the story goes, did a look around while walking en felt face foreward on the beach. According to the legend he is known to say, "Wat eene moij eijlant met merkwaerdigh veel duiven ende.. mohodver ", ("What a beautiful island with an remarkably lof of pigeons and.. dammit"). His curse gave name to the landing for many years after and is held still today. Rooibos stayed for about 3 years on the island and sailed back to Flushing, Holland. It took more then 25 years before another adventurer, a French captain, Gilles Sacrebleu, set foot on shore, but on the other side of the island. The shore is now identified as Port Salut. It is not exactly know how Port Salut got its name. For certain is that it was founded by Sacrebleu in 1705. The French initially thougth the island of Liga was to be claimable for the French crown, but they were unpleasantly suprised when in 1710 the Dutch captain Rooibos, with a fleet of 5 galleons, each carrying 366 guns return and tried to expell the French colonists. A two day battle over Port Salut area crippled both fleets, and the Dutch retreated to Mohodver. What happened after that is unclear. Both nations stayed for 10 years on Liga without claims on possesion. Around 1720 another face showed up with the name of Thomas Cocklyn, an English pirate who sought refuge after repression of the English navy in the Carribean. Cocklyn was successfull in repelling the Dutch and the French off the island and started a new settlement after Mohodver and Port Salut were burned to the ground. He choose a location for a new harbour due to better currents, and called the settlement Liga, named after his Carribean origin wife. This settlement became eventually the main capital. Cocklyn and his cronies lived by raiding all nations cargo ships, and gathered a lot of gold, jewelry and coins. The Spanish crown, getting more and more annoyed by the presence of the successfull pirate tried to capture the island and imprison Cocklyn. The plan was to use the small Liga island, called Liga Minoras by the Spanish, as a base to spy on the movements of Cocklyn's fleet. Spanish admiral Blas de Lezo however did not made any movement to start removing Cocklyn. The legend goes that Blas de Lezo used his time to rest before sailing of to Colombia. The English king Charles eventually ordered his navy, under lead of Admiral Jack Curser to make an end on the adventures of Cocklyn. In a heavy storm somewhere in september 1768 Cocklyn was arrested, his fleet destroyed and his cronies executed. What happened after his arrest is not recorded, but the English started a settlement in the north, named after the admiral. However, with the death of Curser in 1772 the English departed the island, leaving a small detachment of soldiers behind. After 1772 no nation apperantly gained interrest in the island, and the decendants of former Dutch, French and English ship crew mixed up, started to populate and exploit the island. International trade ships sporadically visited, and a new established country was formed. 1.2 Settlements The oldest know settlement is presumably Mohodver. It has been founded in 1679 by the Dutch. Subsequent settlements has been founded by the French, English and Spanish occupants. There are a lot of more recent settlements, villages and small towns. The major cities are: * Liga city * Mohodver * Port Salut * Curser * Nicoise * Pointe de Tapas 1.3 20th century Beginning in the early 1900's the Republic of Liga was a closed and low profile country. It was until after world war II that more contact was been sought in Europe and the United States. From 1945 onwards until the coupe d'etat on 22 april 1979 there was repression on the population by the militant government, lead by president Claude Jan Craayennest, who was executed on 23 april 1979. Colonel Frits Labberlot took power and, as a people man, he reformed the government, lifted all militant remains from society and begun activly promote Liga in worldwide financhial institutions and bank. It started to pay off in 1982, and Liga is currently booming. A new airport was been constructed by international money, Liga city been expanded and tourism promoted ,nowadays Liga is known worldwide as a stable partner for international trade. Labberlot is still in office as the president, been re-elected by the Ligirian people every 4 years. 2 Geography 2.1 Physical geography From a geostructural perspective the Liga islands are located above an active triple junction between three of the world's large tectonic plates (the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate) a condition that has translated into the existence of many faults and fractures in this region of the Atlantic. The Liga islands of the archipelago (Liga and Liga Minoras) are located in the North American Plate. The islands of the Liga archipelago were formed through volcanic and seismic activity during the Neogene Period; the first embryonic surfaces started to appear in the waters of Liga Minoras during the Miocene epoch (from circa 8 million years ago). The sequence of the island formation has been generally characterized as: Liga Minoras (8.12 Ma) and Liga (4.1 Ma) the youngest Although all islands have experienced volcanism during their geological history, within recorded "human settlement" history the island of Liga has not experienced any volcanic eruptions; in addition to active fumaroles and hot-springs, the other island, Minoras, have had sporadic eruptions since the 14th century. 2.2 Flora and fauna 2.3 Climate The climate is an overall yearly mild climate. The Liga island is spread out in the area between 37° N and the parallels of latitude that pass through the Lisbon area (38° 53' / 39° 59' N), giving it generally a tepid, oceanic, subtropical climate, with mild annual oscillations. Daily maximum temperatures usually range between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F). The average annual rainfall increases from east to west, and it ranges from 700 to 1600 annual millimetres (27.6–63 in) on average, reaching 6,300 millimetres (250 in) on Mount Cibbeling, the highest Ligirian mountain at 2,351 m (7,713 ft). The Azores high, an area of high atmospheric pressure, is also prevailing. Under the Köppen climate classification, the local climate is "dry-summer subtropical", often referred to as "Mediterranean". The Köppen subtype for this climate is "Csb". * Highest minimum air temperature: 24.3 °C (75.7 °F), in Liga city (21 June 1996) * Lowest minimum air temperature: −3.5 °C (25.7 °F), in Mohodver (1 January 1973) * Highest maximum air temperature: 32.1 °C (89.8 °F), in Nicoise (8 September 1985) * Lowest maximum air temperature: 4.0 °C (39.2 °F), Curser (22 February 1972) * Maximum precipitation in 24 hours: 27.6 cm (10.87 in), Curser (1 October 1974) * Maximum wind speed: >168 km/hour, Mount Cibbeling (2 November 1995) A total of 11 tropical or subtropical cyclones have affected the region in history. Most of them were either extratropical or tropical storms when they impacted the island, although several Category 1 hurricanes have reached Liga. The following storms have impacted the region while at Category 1 strength: Hurricane Fran in 1973, Hurricane Emmy in 1976, Hurricane Gordon in 2006 and Hurricane Gordon in 2012. Several tropical storms have hit the island, including Tropical Storm Irma in 1978, Hurricane Bonnie in 1992 and Hurricane Erika in 1997. Storms that were extratropical when they impacted Liga include Hurricane Tanya in 1995, Tropical Storm Ana in 2003 and Tropical Storm Grace in 2009. In addition, the 2005 Azores subtropical storm impacted Liga in October 2005. Source: LWI, Ligirian Weather Institute 2.4 Human geography 2.4.1 Population The population of Liga is a an acient mix of Dutch, English and French colonists, and decendants of the old ship crews of the 1700's and later. Due to a slow influx of new colonists the population very slowly expanded into the 1940's. After world war II and more specifically after President Labberlot opened Liga for foreign investors in 1979, the influx of highly skilled, rich, and overseas employees expanded the population explosive. In 1945 for example the capital, Liga city only had about 20,000 citizens, in 1990 more then 56,000, and now in 2014 179,000 citizens, remain in the capital. During the booming years from 2000 and later also other cities expanded, Mohodver in 1945 of 13,000 and in 2014 79,000, Port Salut grew from 1945 with 9,000 citizens to 46,500 citizens in 2014. The biggest cities currently give home to a total of 392,085 citizens (of a total of 498,055), distributed as below: The remaining citizens, scattered over small villages, townships and settlements are 105,970. This bring the total citizens in the Republic of Liga on 498,055 people. 2014 Above figures only represent residential citizens. Over about 150,000 overseas employees reside in Liga, and around 700,000 tourists visits anually. (Source: Labberlot University) 2.4.2 Education Education on Liga is been provided by the state. Besides the numerous basic schools, the main educational institute is the Labberlot University of Liga. The campus of the university houses around 15.000 students yearly. Some local, but most international. 2.4.3 Health Healthcare is been provided by the state. Liga has two main hospitals. Evey city has a small local communical hospital for first aid and normal treathment. The main hospitals in Liga are; the Liga city located Liga Rooibos, and the in Port Salut located Hospitale Originale. Rooibos hospital is an academic hosptial, while Hospitale Originale is more specialized. Both hospitals have helicopter services for emergency clients. 2.4.4 Districts Liga knows 5 distinct districts of semi autonomy. The district or region, like a province, has its own local government. The district government controlls daily tasks like a city province would do. For example, the local district government is responsible for civil works, like roads, housing and public services such as water and electricity. The local governments are been elected every 5 years by the district citizens. The 5 districts are: * Oulde, main city is Mohodver * Ligan, main city is Liga city * Frince, main city is Port Salut * Ingles, main city is Curser * Espin, main city is Pointe de Tapas Source: Labberlot University 2.4.5 Language By definition, the official language of Liga is the English language. Due to history, the old Ligirian language, is a mixup of Dutch, English and French words. Most of them are now hard to recognize, while others seem to be untouched. Locals still use the old language, but due to the rapid modernisation it will be lost in history in a few decades. The Labberlot University of Liga is currently being recording the old language, and preserve it for future generations. 2.4.6 Ligirians Famous Ligirians are: * Hendrick Rooibos, alleged discoverer, and first inhabitant * Gilles Sacrebeu, co-discoverer * Jack Curser * Claude Jean Craayennest, militant ruler * Frits Labberlot, current president, reformer and loved by the people 3 Politics 3.1 Internal Politics The highest authority is the President of the state. Currently Frits Labberlot. The President is elected by the people of Liga every 4 years. Next election is scheduled on 22 april 2015. Formaly the President can only serve two terms, but the People Representation and the Senate (United Representation) can grant the President extra terms. The president can reject laws that are approved by the People’s Representation, if they are approved by less then 67 % of the votes. The legislative body is the United Representation. It consists of two houses : 1. THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVES This house is elected directly by all the people of Liga that are at least 18 years old and consists of 50 representatives. Representatives are elected on personal capacity. Political parties exist, but are not relevant for the formation of the house. Elections are held each 2 years. After the poll stations are closed, votes are counted and the candidates are listed on the order of the number of votes they gathered. The first 50 candidates on that list are the new members of the house. The members of the house choose a chairman. His or her titel is “First Representative”. This chairman is a member of the special Presidium. 2. THE SENATE This house is the representation of the Regions (see below). Each Region delegates three representatives to the Senate that also has a session of 2 years. The Senate has limited powers. It is a advisory body for new bills. When the People’s Representatives has to vote about a new bill, an advice of the Senate is required. The advise is non-committal. The Senate has the Right of Consent if the People’s Representatives have approved a new bill that is about specific regional interests and the bill is approved by the People’s Representatives with less then 67 % of the votes. If the Senate rejects or approve such a bill, the President of the State can overrule it and still approve or reject it. The members of the Senate choose a chairman, who also serves as Vice-President of the State. He or she is also member of the Presidium. UNITED REPRESENTATION The People’s Representatives and the Senate form the United Representation. In some cases they come together in joined session to take decisions. That is the case when the country has an crisis or when the President of the State is elected for a 3th term. There are more, but very rare occasions to hold a United session. The First Representative is chairman of the United Representation. THE COUNCIL OF STATE The Council of State is the government of Liga. It consists of State Councilors who can have special tasks like : * Treasury * Social & Healthcare * Science and Education * Defence * General Affairs * Foreign Affairs * State Affairs The Council has a chairman who is the Secretary of State. He or she is appointed by the People’s Representatives after nomination by the President. The Secretary of State is member of the Presidium. As per 2014 the Council of State is represented by: THE PRESIDIUM The Presidium consists of the President, the Vice President, the First Representative, the Secretary of State, the President of the General Court and the Commander of the Forces. The Presidium is usually inactive. However, it can govern the country in times of trouble. The United Representation can give a decree that hands over all the State power to the Presidium. This “rule-by-decree” turns all the state institutions into “non-active” until the United Representatives repeal the decree. The President is chairman of the Presidium. REGIONS Liga is divided into 5 regions. The regions have limited powers for self-government for financial matters, education and environment. The regions are governed by a one-house body, the House of the Region. The number of representatives depends of the population of the region. They are not elected directly, butdelegated by the cities of the region. The House chooses 3 tot 5 executives to form the Regional Commission. This Commission is chaired by the Region Governor, who is elected by the people of the Region directly. CITIES AND TOWNSHIPS Townships are small cities up to 20.000 people. They are governed by a town-council that is elected by the people directly. The council chooses 3 to 5 town-secretaries who take care of the town. One of them is the chairman of the secretaries. Cities are larger townships with more than 20.000 people. They are governed by the city-council that is elected by the people directly. The council chooses 5 to 9 city-secretaries who take care or the town. The people of the city vote for the City-Mayor who is the head of the executive body of the city. He or she is also Mayor of the townships in the area of the city. 3.2 International affairs Liga is currently looking for FICT membership. President Frits Labberlot made an appeal to FICT members in december 2014 for anticipated membership. 3.3 Constitution and Law JUDICAIRY SYSTEM OF LIGA The Judiciary System of Liga is included in several laws. The Constitution of 1979 provides that there must be a special law that regulates the court system. This law, the Court Law of 1985 provides several types of court. The first court is the city-court of subdistrict court. This court can be found in each city and had jurisdiction in the city and the dependent townships. The city-court hears all simple criminal cases, civil cases and some administrative cases. There is one judge in this city court who is assisted by a clerck. For criminal cases there is a junior-prosecutor. People van litigate without a attorney. THE REGIONAL COURT This court is competent for a region. It hears appeals against city-court judgments and hears heavier criminal, civil and administrative cases at first instance. There are three judges in this court and a clerck. For criminal cases there is a senior-prosecutor and in case of appeal the court can ask a legal advice at the State Advocate that is appointed in this court. There are five regional courts. THE NATIONAL COURT OF APPEAL There are three national courts of appeal : for criminal, civil and administrative cases. These courts have 5 to 7 judges. In criminal cases there is a Attorney-General. In civil cases the court can ask advice at the State Advocate-General. For administrative cases the state is represented by the Advocate-Fiscal. It also hears appeals against judgments of the Political Office Court. APPEAL AT THE HIGH LEGAL COMMITEE In some special cases (very rare) one can appeal to the High Legal Committee. This Committee is a special and independent committee of the People’s Representatives that can overrule certain judgments of a National Court of Appeal. The Committee consists of 9 lawyers. One of them is the called the Supreme Judge and is President of the Committee. He is appointed by the President. SPECIAL COURTS There are some special courts : * Military Court. This court hears criminal cases against military personnel. Appeals are heared by the National Court of Appeal * Tax Tribunal This court hears tax disputes. Appeals are heared by the National Court of Appeal * Political Office Court This court hears criminal cases against Politicians Appeals are heared by the High Legal Committee. All judges in all courts, exept the High Legal Committee are appointed by the State Council on the recommendation of the President. Prosecutors, the Attorney-General, the Advocate-Fiscal and the State Advocate are employees of the Office of the State Councilor of Justice. 3.4 Police and Defense The Republic of Liga currently has a standing army of around 500 soldiers. They are for defensive actions, and are sometimes offered for UN (United Nations) tasks if requested. Their main tast is offering security for embassies, government and border patrol. There is no army, navy or airforce division, the defensive forces are called the Ligirian Defense Force LDF. Currently its been led by Gen. P. Paarton. The police force of Liga is named Police Of Liga, POL, and consists of around 1100 officers. Their main task, besides normal police work, is offering security on the Liga International Airport, border patrol (in cooperation with the LDF), and government security. The POL is connected to InterPol, and other international organisations. 4 Services Liga provides mainly financial services worldwide. Datacenter services are provided as well, mainly for world-wide operating companies who seek reliable and secure processing. Liga offers those services on a strictly confidential basis for a fee. See International Finances below for detailed information. 4.1 International Finances Liga is internationaly know for its banking and financial services. It's a major international financial centre. The biggest sectors are banking, hedge funds formation and investment, structured finance and securisation, captive insurance and general other corporate activities. Regulation and supervision of the financial services industry are the responsibility of the Ligirian Financial Authority Liga is the sixth largest banking centre in the world, with a $ 1.3 trillion in banking liabilities. In December 2014 there were 79 banks, operating world-wide. Financial services generated $ 1.2 billion GDP in 2014 (87% of the total economy). In 2014, the country ranked fifth internationally in terms of value of liabilities booked, and sixth in terms of assets booked. It has branches of 40 of the world's 50 largest banks. Liga is the second largest captive domicile in the world with more than 560 captives, writing more than US$6.5 billion of premiums and with US$32.3 billion of assets under management. There are a number of service providers. These include global financial institutions including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Goldman Sachs; over 80 administrators, leading accountancy practices (incl. the Big Four auditors), and offshore law practices including Maples & Calder. They also include wealth management such as Rothschild's private banking and financial advice. Since the introduction of the Mutual Funds Law in 1985, which has been copied by jurisdictions around the world, Liga has grown to be the world's leading offshore hedge fund jurisdiction. In June 2014, it passed 11,000 hedge fund registrations, and over the year ending June 2014 CIMA reported a net growth rate of 15% for hedge funds. Starting in the mid-late 1990s, offshore financial centres, such as Liga, came under increasing pressure from the OECD for their allegedly harmful tax regimes, where the OECD wished to prevent low-tax regimes from having an advantage in the global marketplace. The OECD threatened to place Liga and other financial centres on a "black list" and impose sanctions against them. However, Liga successfully avoided being placed on the OECD black list in 2006 by committing to regulatory reform to improve transparency and begin information exchange with OECD member countries about their citizens. A report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in March 2008, assessing supervision and regulation at Liga's banking, insurance and securities industries, as well as its money laundering regime, recognised the jurisdiction's comprehensive regulatory and compliance frameworks. "An extensive program of legislative, rule and guideline development has '' introduced an increasingly effective system of regulation, both formalizing earlier practices and introducing enhanced procedures", noted IMF assessors. The report further stated that "the supervisory system benefits from a well-developed banking infrastructure with an internationally experienced and qualified workforce as well as experienced lawyers, accountants and auditors", adding that, "the overall compliance culture within Liga is very strong, including the compliance culture related to AML (anti-money laundering) obligations". Liga is ranked as the world's second most significant tax haven on the Tax Justice Network's "Financial Secrecy Index" from 2012, scoring slightly higher than Luxembourg and falling behind only Switzerland. In 2013, Liga is ranked by the Financial Secrecy Index as the fourth safest tax haven in the world, behind Hong Kong but ahead of Singapore. Ligirian top banks and services in Liga: * Ligirian First Bank LC * International Trade Bank of Liga LC * Banque Commerciale du Liga LC * Ligirian Register and Administration Center LC 4.2 Telecom The international connection for data transfer, television and telephone is under control of the Ligirian Fiber Linkup ® (LFL LC) or ''Linqup de Fiber du Liga LC. Currently all households and companies use the LFL services as it is the only provider. LFL use sattelites and a land line for highspeed connections. Banks and datacenters use LFL solely as their only means for communication and services. The headquarters of the LFL are located in Liga, as is also the LFL Datacenter, Ligirian Fiber Linkup Datacenter (LFLD) or Linqup de Fiber du Liga de Centre Données. The Ligirian Fiber Linkup employs 5,232 workers (2014) and the board of directors consists of (at november 2014): * dr. Jean Pocqebok (CEO * mr. Peter Flickflacq (CIO) * mr. Maurice Snibbels (CFO) * ms. Marie Dreijfhout(CAO) * mr. Willem Drinkaardij (COO) '''' LFL uses the .lflinkup.com extension for all its internet websites access. E.g. the official government website is reachable at http://liga.lflinkup.com as a main portal to the island. Amongst several others, the LFL participates in the following international organisations: * International Telecommunication Union (ITU), (French: Union Internationale des Télécommunications) * International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) 4.2 Register The Republic of Liga offers international financial services worldwide. The access for foreign countries to these services, banks and other organisations is been provided by the LRAC. (Ligirian Register and Administration Center). This offical state organisation provides access control to these services by supplying a registrant credentials for usage on the computer systems and network. Only officially registered foreign representatives can make use of the network and do business with the services provided. The LRAC does the acceptance procedure. LRAC has been founded in 1995 when international trade grew in volume, and a control mechanism was needed. LRAC is been led by director Pierre Goedfortune, and has 145 employees (2014). 5 Infrastructure 5.1 Aviation Aviation has always a priority for Liga, since the remoteness of the island requires a fast and reliable connection overseas. The oldest airport, 5 miles outside of the city of Liga was established in 1934. The then grass landing strip was in use for foreign aircraft, but Liga didnt own any herself. This changed in 1940 when World War II started, and international connections were disrupted. Liga purchased 3 Douglas DC-2's, later replaced by DC-3's, and purchased after WWII 2 Lockheed Constellations, L-749's. Eventually the runway was changed to concrete and extended. During the 1970's it was clear a new international airport was needed, with a longer runway, and a modern terminal. Construction started in 1981, and was completed in 1985. A brand new terminal, designed to serve over a million passengers yearly, was inaugurated by president Labberlot on 26 of march 1985. This new airport is close to the city of Liga, just over a mile away, and has a runway of 9500 meters. The decision to line the runway north-south was made due to space considerations, and is in hindsight not an ideal situation due to prevailing western winds, and a take off direction to mountainous area's. In 1997 Ligirian Airlines was been formed as the national carrier. Currently Ligirian Airlines serves with 4 aircraft, 1 Boeing 747-400, 1 Boeing 787, and two Airbus 320's. 5.2 Marine transport (ports) There are several ports, harbours and marina's in Liga. The main port is at the capital, Liga city, where most of the goods are been recieved. The main port of Liga city is called Ligarbour and can process all marine transport if needed. Vessels also can be processed at Port Salut, the second harbour of the island. Many cruise ships visit Liga in the summer months, and Ligarbour has special docking area for the kind of ships. Small harbours include the fishing ship harbour at Mohodver, Curser and Pointe de Tapas. There are also a number of small marina's, mainly for touristic use. These smaller harbours provide also ferry services between both islands, Liga and Minoras, but also to the near Azores. Currently there are no statistics published yet. (2014) 6 Culture 6.1 Music Traditional music on Liga has influences from old Dutch, French and English settlers. Officially there is no mainstream since every region has its own distinct accents and history represented in music. Due to a long isolation there are not much influences from abroad. Some typical music and dance from the regions are shown below: * Dutch dances in Mohodver region * French influenced accordian music in the Port Salut region * English region of Curser music * English drinking song from the Curser region Note that above examples are traditional music. * Most played music example, about the pigeons on Liga, a special performance by The Corrs * Recorded on Liga Source: Labberlot University 6.2 Media NEWSPAPERS Currently Liga knows two newspapers. Liga Todai and Ligiria Ajurd. While Liga Todai writes mainly in official English language, the Ligiria Ajurd write mostly in local dialect. Both newspapers cover local and world news TV There are two official Ligirian television stations, LTV1 and LTV2. RADIO There are many local radio stations, all of them covering the whole island. The official stations are Radio Liga, and Liga One. Radio Liga is known for its very good news coverage needed , while Liga One is more a peoples radio, with lots of music. The non official radio stations are mostly covering very local news. INTERNET AND COMMUNICATIONS All internet and data communications are being provided by LFLINKUP. Ligirian Fiber Linkup ® (LFL) or Linqup de Fiber du Liga. See above. LFLINKUP services all telephone lines, internet and radio transmissions. See also News in Brief. 6.3 Tourism Tourism is an important part of Ligirian economy. Besides the financial services, yearly around 700.000 tourist from all over the world visit Liga in the summer. The tourism business grew rapidly from the year 2000 up to today, and is yearly increasing. Mainly due to luxury hotels, very fine restaurants, and very good marine facilities a lot of tourist choose Liga as a place to spend a summer vaction. The southern reef, called the Echouer Reef, is populair for diving. The other parts of the island also attract tourists, for example Curser is populair for hiking in the sub tropical forrest and mountains. Port Salut is a populair destination with the Nicoise lake very near, and the great food. Tourism figures released by the Ligirian Statistics Buro revealed 765.761 tourists in 2014. 7.Economics 7.1 Taxation No direct taxation is imposed on residents and Liga companies. The government receives the majority of its income from indirect taxation. Duty is levied against most imported goods, which is typically in the range of 22% to 25%. Some items are exempted, such as baby formula, books, cameras and certain items are taxed at 5%. Duty on automobiles depends on their value. The duty can amount to 29.5% up to $20,000.00 CIF (cost, insurance and freight) and up to 42% over $30,000.00 CIF for expensive models. The government charges flat licensing fees on financial institutions that operate on the island and there are work permit fees on foreign labour. A 13% government tax is placed on all tourist accommodations in addition to US$25.00 airport departure tax which is built into the cost of an airline ticket. There are no taxes on profits, capital gains, income or any withholding taxes charged to foreign investors. There are no estate or death duties payable at the Liga island real estate or other assets held in at Liga. The Liga Revenue Service (LRS). The Liga Revenue Service has the task to collect all state taxes but also fines and other state fees. The LRS is located in mayor cities and ports. The LRS Headquarters are in the capital and the LRS is headed by the LRS Commisioner who is appointed by the State Council. The local offices are headed by deputy-commisoners. Each office has tax-auditors who check the compliance of the taxpayers (mostly companies who withhold the taxes from their customers). There are also tax-collectors who can force unwilling taxpayers to meet their obligations. Cities can have their own tax-systems, within the limits of the law. Official registered Ligirian companies and firms are been registered with the LC extension. (Ligirian Company, Ligirian Companie) 7.2 Wine making Due to French influences wine making in Liga started around the early 1870's. The vulcanic ground proved to be excellent for wine production. There are currently two main wine houses, called a chateau in the Port Salut region, and wyn huys in the Mohodver region. Both parts produce excellent red wines, who steadly gain foothold in the international wine communities. The Port Salut region, represented by the Vins Du Port Salut chateau, produces exclusive wines, with a limited production, but of excellent taste. The Mohodver region chateau, called Die Goeie Wyn produces also good wine, but more affordable, and less prestige. Liga has established in the 1990's a control mechanismn to provide quality assurance. Its been named the Appelation d'controle de Liga, or ACL. All ACL wines are of extreme high standards. 8 References Sources: * Official Liga website * Ligirian Register and Administration Center * Labberlot University * Department of Social & Healthcare * Department of Science and Education * Department of Foreign Affairs * Liga at Geopoeia